The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrew Christians needed to explain how Jesus is not an Angel. So he begins this letter by diving right in.
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways [at sundry times and in divers manners, KJV],
God spoke to His prophets in the Old Testament days in many ways and in several different countries of the World.
in these last days
He is saying that the "last days" period of time had already begun.
has spoken to us in His Son,
Jesus is the one we need to listen to now.
whom He appointed heir of all things,
Jesus will inherit all of Creation, as having purchased it all with His Blood, He is the Owner.
through whom also He made the World.
God the Father spoke matter into existence, and the Word He uttered is Jesus (John 1:1-3). So Jesus is the Creator, along with the Father and the Spirit.
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His Nature,
In John 14:8-11 at the Last Supper, Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, and Jesus replied that He who has seen Me has seen the Father, because He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, and everything He does is what he is seeing the Father doing. So Jesus is the exact picture of God the Father's character.
and upholds all things by the Word of His power.
Jesus holds up everything in the Power of His Intention. He holds all Creation together. Colossians 1:17 tells us that By Him all things consist, or are constituted. He is the force of energy that gives substance to material things.
When He had made purification of sins,
When Jesus finished the work He was given to do, to be our, "Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World." His Blood had unlimited value to be able to cleanse away all sin everywhere in the Universe, including every person who ever lived. But not every person wants to come to God--but that is another study.
He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
He could only sit down when His work was finished. The Tabernacle and the Temple had no provision for any of the priests to be able to sit down, because their work was never finished. They were required to continue to bring more sacrifices continually, every day, with no end. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin, only cover it (Hebrews 10:4). Only the precious Blood of Christ can wash it away.
having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent Name than they.
His rank of authority is as far above that of the Angels as His position is.
For to which of the angels did He ever say,
"You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? (Psalm 2:7)And again,
"I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me"? (Psalm 89: 26-27)Jesus is the only-begotten Son of the Father. No one else has that distinction. No Angel has ever had the opportunity to be born into God's own family.
And when He again brings the Firstborn into the World, He says,
"And let all the Angels of God worship Him." (Psalm 97:7)Jesus is the Lord God Almighty, and all the Holy Angels worship Him as God, as they worship the Father.
And of the Angels He says,
"Who makes His Angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire." (Psalm 104:4)Angels are part of the Creation of God, He made them, and He made them spirit (wind, breath), and able to consume like fire.
But of the Son He says,
"Your Throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His Kingdom.The Father God calls the Son God, and has given Him a Throne (authority to rule as sovereign King) that will last forever and be based on right-ness, Truth.
"You have loved Righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the Oil of Gladness above Your companions."(Psalm 45:6-7)Because of the sterling qualities of His character, God has given Him more joy and gladness and happiness than any of His creation. His Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of Joy.
And,
"You, Lord, in the Beginning laid the foundation of the Earth, and the Heavens are the works of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; and they will all become old like a garment, and like a mantle You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. (Psalm 102:25-27)Jesus is the Creator God who made everything that exists. This is the First Law of Thermodynamics, that all of our Science is based on. The Conservation of Matter; to be able to change form but not become any more or less.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is Entropy; that everything goes from order to chaos. This is why everything wears down and wears out. This is the Curse that Man's sin placed on our whole Universe. Death.
"But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end." (Isaiah 34:4)But Jesus is not part of the Creation, so is not subject to our Science or sin's curse. He is God, and will continue to be God forever.
But to which of the Angels has He ever said,
"Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet"? (Psalm 110:1)Only the Son of God and Son of Man has earned the right to hold ownership over the World by both Creation and Purchase.
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit Salvation?
Angels are servants, obeying God by ministering to us human beings who are being called into God's family through His Son. They are assigned to us, to protect us from dangers we don't even see. They have also brought God's message to the prophet for the Holy Spirit to guide them to write God's Word accurately.
The Angels make sure that our enemy cannot destroy any of us who God knows will turn to Him, before we are saved. I know that an angel or two or three must have kept me safe from dying prematurely by driving off of a mountain before I became a Christian. That occasion I can point to, but I don't know how many other times God sent His messenger to protect me.
The writer of this Epistle wanted to make sure we knew that Jesus our Redeemer and Lord is so much more than just an Angel. That was a heresy that was going around then, as it still does today. This first chapter refutes that.
O my Father, I pray for those who are being deceived into not recognizing who Jesus really is. This is so foundational. We must know who He is before we can recognize what He has done for us.
Father, I pray for all those who will inherit that great Salvation You have provided. I pray that You would draw them to Yourself with Your irresistible power, teaching them Your Truth, and cleansing them in the precious Blood of the Sacrificial Lamb of God, given for us.
I pray for our loved ones, Father, who are in our own families and circles, who don't know You yet. I pray for them by name, as You know who they are. Call them to Yourself, Father; dispel all the lies that have sucked them in, release them from the bonds of sin that have ensnared them.
Father, choose my loved ones, as I know You love them even more than I do, and You are not willing that any perish. Pull them away from what has seduced them, into the freedom of Your grace.
And every knee will bow, every tongue will confess in every language, that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
